Schools

Board OK's late starts for Fort Morgan High School teacher PLC's

Meetings allow teachers to share information

The Fort Morgan School Board on Monday night approved an altered school schedule for Fort Morgan High School on select days to allow teachers time for Professional Learning Communities (PLC) sessions.

The vote on the altered schedule was split, however, with Director Connie Weingarten voting no and the rest of the board voting yes. Director Don Kembel was absent.

The purpose of the PLC sessions is for teachers to have time during the work day to get together as a whole group or a subject group and share information about what works and does not work in teaching students, as well as going over data supporting these conclusions, according to FMHS Principal Judy Florian.

The schedule the board approved includes nine planned late starts on Jan. 8 and 22, Feb. 5 and 19, March 5, April 2, 16 and 30 and May 14. These are all Tuesdays.

On late start days, first period would start at 9 a.m. Class periods would be 44 minutes long, except for seventh period, which would be 45 minutes. Lunch would last 31 minutes. There would not be a zero hour class on late start days.

Florian told the board there was a plan in place for students who still needed to come to school at the regular time on late start days, such as students who ride the bus or do not drive.

Options for these students will include access to open computer labs and the media center, as well as homework centers, Florian said. Classified staff members will help with supervising students during the PLC time before school would start.

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"Administration is involved, classified staff is involved. This is a team effort," Florian told the board, adding that qualified students may have opportunities to act as tutors during this time, as well.

She said the breakfast program would also be open during this time.

"With all the research we did last year, the trend is we'll start out with lots of kids, then fewer," she said of how many students would need supervision during PLC sessions.

Florian told the board that the teachers and administrators would provide the board with minutes from the PLC sessions, as well as data showing if the teachers' collaborative efforts were making a difference in student grades and test scores.

"This is a work in progress," she said. "It's all about kids learning."

She said that the planned twice-monthly PLC sessions would not be enough to accomplish everything, but that it would be a start.

"We need to be digging into the data so there is more consistency in what we're teaching and what they're learning," Florian told the board.

Weingarten expressed concerns about the cancellation of zero hour classes on late start days.

Director Dr. George Saiter said he thought the PLC late start plan "sounds like a good idea," but he added that he wanted to be sure the data sets would be available to evaluate its effectiveness.

Florian said that she would provide the board with that data.

Superintendent Ron Echols said the PLC sessions would solve the problem of teachers not having common planning time to discuss teaching strategies and what all the data that is collected really means.

"You could see (the teachers have) got the fire, that they were buying into the professional learning communities program," he told the board of why the board was being asked to consider starting the PLC program mid-year. "I was afraid if we waited another year, they'd lose that fire and drive."

He said he could understand if the board members had reservations.

"PLC's aren't the cure-all for all ills," he said. "But if we can get the staff all to buy in (they could make a real difference for the students). The sole purpose we're trying to achieve here is improving student achievement."

After the meeting, Florian said she was "thrilled" with the board's decision to go forward with the late start schedule and allow for the PLC's during regular work time.

"Our teachers need to carve out sacred time to get together to talk about the data, about what's good and what's not," she said.

However, Weingarten said she voted against it because she had concerns about accountability, taking instructional time away from the students and starting the program mid-year.

Other action

The board also:

Approved on third and final reading updated policies on discipline, suspension and dismissal of support staff.

Heard first reading on an updated policy about student use of the Internet and electronic communications. Included policy changes would be necessary to comply with federal and state laws, and they would add updates to deal with new technology, such as tablets and cell phones, according to district staff.

Approved donations from the Bloedorn Foundation for $16,000 for Bloedorn Foundation Scholarships and $1,250 for the 2013 summer programs scholarships from the foundation.

Discussed the role and composition of the District Accountability Committee. The board agreed that more parent involvement was needed on this committee. More discussion on this topic likely will happen at future board meetings.

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